Oil diplomacy pays off!
The normalisation of diplomatic relations with Libya reflects the fact that Bush administration's pronounced policy of promotion of democracy becomes a rhetoric or political stunt as Libya is known to have one of the world's worst repressive governments and has been placed in "the bottom five countries in terms of free flow of information" by US based Freedom House that promotes democracy. State department in its report this year described Gaddafi's regime as authoritarian. It is an irony of fate that Bush administration has abandoned its mission of spreading democracy in the non-democratic parts of the world, particularly the Muslim world as has been reflected in the normalization of relations with Libya.
It is equally amazing to note the voice of a Republican, Ron Paul who said in the House of Representatives on April 5,2006 that "even with the horrible results of the past three years, Congress is abuzz with plans to change the Iranian government. There is little resistance to the rising clamor for democratising Iran, even though current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an elected leader. Though Iran is hardly a perfect democracy, its system is far superior to most of our Arab allies about which we never complain". Although he is correct to say so, but he is a lone voice.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The reason of restoring diplomatic relations was gradual skyrocketing of oil prices and the trend of nationalization of foreign oil companies in the northern hemisphere and redrawing new contracts with foreign companies. These trends may have caused panic in oil markets. Newly elected President Evo Morale, an Indian aborigine, declared nationalisation of oil and gas fields in Bolivia.
While nationalising oil and gas fields President Evo Morale is reported to have accused foreign oil companies of the exploitation of the natural resources of Bolivia. His allegation is not without any basis. And President Morale is not alone in recognising the folly of the measures adopted by the past regimes in western hemisphere similar but harsh measures were adopted earlier by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Nationalisation of oil and gas fields has not caused any friction of interest or division among the countries in Latin America, which has been reflected in the recent summit meeting among the powerful countries of Latin America viz Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia. This has been echoed by Brazil's President Luiz Ignacio Lula de Silva, that "there was no crisis and there would be no crisis between Bolivia and Brazil".
To express resentment against Venezuelan government of Chavez Bush administration has imposed ban on May 15, 2006 on the sale of arms from America. This imposition came at a time when Chavez declared to sale weapons to Iran, which Bush administration considers as supporter of terrorism. Spokesman of the state department gave the reason of imposition of embargo as Venezuela not being helpful in combating terrorism.
Other side of the coin is that China has aggressively been buying oil and gas from all over the world which might contribute to further rise of oil price. India is not lagging behind either.
Oil diplomacy is paying off in international politics these days as has been reflected in the threat by Iran's President and its Interior Minister recently to deploy oil weapons if UN imposes sanctions against Iran on the issue of uranium enrichment programme. This being the situation, UN Security Council ponders twice whether sanction or tough measures would boomerang if Iran plays oil as weapon. This is what the Washington Post wrote: "Many believe that Iran's oil weapon could prove more useful than any nuclear weapon it might develop. Using a nuclear weapon would assure Iran's destruction. Using the oil weapon, by trimming exports to jack up oil prices and holding the world's economy hostage, could bring influence, concessions and if handled adroitly, tens of billion of dollars in extra revenue without any direct military conflict".